Australian state violated human rights in lockdown to control Covid-19 spread: Report
Coronavirus in Australia
An ombudsman report has said that lockdown announced by Australia's second most populous state violated human rights and was not based on health officials advice.
To contain the rise in the spread of coronavirus, the state of Victoria ordered the lockdown of nine public housing towers for many days in July.
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Victoria's acting chief health officer was given only 15 minutes to consider and approve the measure, which includes the impact on human rights, Ombudsman Deborah Glass' report said.
"The rushed lockdown was not compatible with the residents' human rights, including their right to humane treatment when deprived of liberty..., the action appeared to be contrary to the law," Deborah was quoted as saying by news agency Reuters.
People residing in the eight towers were confined in their apartments for five days, but in the ninth tower, which had the most number of cases, there was a complete lockdown for two weeks.
The report said some residents were left without food and medicines, and several others waited for over a week to go outside.
The state government accepted that mistakes were committed, but insisted that the measures were necessary to ensure the safety of its people.
"We make no apology for saving people's lives, absolutely no apology for saving people's lives," Victoria state Housing Minister Richard Wynne told reporters.
Australia managed to contain the coronavirus outbreak, but the bulk of the cases were reported from Victoria.
However, the state is able to control the surge and has not reported a single case in 48 consecutive days as of Thursday.